Everything ELA!: August 2018

Monday, August 27, 2018

It's Monday! What Are You Reading! August 27, 2018

A great meme hosted by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. A place for people to talk about books they have recently read and are currently reading. Also a great place to find books to add to your "must read" list.

Here is what I have recently read (click on the title to learn more about the book):

Love Like Sky

By Leslie C. Youngblood

This is the story of Georgie and how she is dealing with her new blended family. Georgie desperately wants her new stepsister to like her, but doesn't realize that, because of this, she is beginning to "neglect" her own younger sister who absolutely adores her. When her younger sister falls ill, she feels extremely guilty that she was worrying more about her older stepsister then her younger actual sister.

The Ice Dragon

By George R.R. Martin

Being a George RR Martin fan, I have had this one on my bookshelf for quite some time. I was looking for a quick read the other day and unearthed this one from the back of the bookshelf. It was definitely a quick read, but also a good little story!

May B.

By Caroline Starr Rose

This coming school year I have the good fortune to be part of the #KidsNeedMentors program and have been lucky enough to be paired up with author Caroline Starr Rose! She sent me a copy of one of her books to introduce to my classroom. It is a fairly quick read as it is a novel written in verse. The main character is sent to live with a "neighbor" to help him with his new homestead and to help make his new city wife comfortable with prairie living. Something happens and May is left alone to brave the winter by herself.

The Land of Forgotten Girls

By Erin Entrada Kelly

So far I have enjoyed everything I have read from Erin Entrada Kelly. This title is no different! I really enjoyed this moving story about Sol and her sister Ming and the hardships they endure when they are left in America with their evil stepmother.

West of the Moon

By Margi Preus

An interesting story that blends fairy tale with reality. Set in Norway, this story follows Astri who is sold by her aunt to a mean goat farmer to basically be his slave. She escapes and sets off to get her little sister and find a way to America where she hopes their father is waiting for them.

Here is what I am currently reading (click on the title to learn more about the book):

Passionate Readers

By Pernille Ripp

I saved this one for right before I went back to school because I knew it would get me energized and excited for the upcoming school year!

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Review of The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

The Benefits of Being an Octopus

By Ann Braden

Published by Sky Pony Press

September 4, 2018

ARC Obtained Through NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

Some people can do their homework. Some people get to have crushes on boys. Some people have other things they’ve got to do.

Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there’s Lenny, her mom’s boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer.

At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it’s best if no one notices them.

Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus: eight arms to do eight things at once. Incredible camouflage ability and steady, unblinking vision. Powerful protective defenses.

Unfortunately, she’s not totally invisible, and one of her teachers forces her to join the debate club. Even though Zoey resists participating, debate ultimately leads her to see things in a new way: her mom’s relationship with Lenny, Fuchsia’s situation, and her own place in this town of people who think they’re better than her. Can Zoey find the courage to speak up, even if it means risking the most stable home she’s ever had?

This moving debut novel explores the cultural divides around class and the gun debate through the eyes of one girl, living on the edges of society, trying to find her way forward.

My Thoughts:

I had been hearing a lot of great things about this book so needless to say I was very excited when I was able to get an ARC from NetGalley. Zoey, the main character, lives a hard and busy life. She is trying to survive middle school while at the same time taking care of her younger siblings. Unlike other kids her age, Zoey doesn't really have time to be a kid because she has to get her siblings up and to daycare in the morning, get herself to school on time, get them off the bus after she gets out of school, then make sure they behave at "home" so that they don't disturb her mother's new boyfriend Lenny and his angry father. This is a tough job in and of itself seeing as they are all packed into Lenny's trailer and her brother and sister are young and full of energy. Dealing with Lenny is also hard because of his often uncaring and hurtful words towards her, her siblings, and especially towards her mother. But Zoey's family doesn't have enough money to move out on their own so Zoey believes that this is how her life will always be...dirty second hand clothes, barely any food in the fridge, listening to her mother get verbally abused, and feeling like her peers are better then her.

I was sucked into this book right away. I was desperate to find out what was going to become of Zoey and her family. Zoey's story also made me think about the number of students in my classroom every year that probably also live in situations similar to Zoey's and feel the same way she does, that they are trapped in a life where they are worthless. I thought this story was one of the most powerful stories I have read in a long time. I think it might be a bit old for my 4th grade classroom library, but I am definitely going to purchase a copy to keep in my closet, as I know that at some point I will have a student in my classroom who really needs it.

I would recommend this book for grades 5 and up.

Monday, August 13, 2018

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? August 13, 2018

The Night Diary

By Veera Hiranandani

Set in the late 1940's, this is a powerful story about what happens to a family who is forced to leave the newly "created" Pakistan and make the dangerous journey to India.

The Cardboard Kingdom

By Chad Sell

A great graphic novel about a group of diverse neighborhood kids and how they decide to entertain themselves over the summer.

Illegal

By Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

A heartbreaking graphic novel about a young refugees journey from Africa to Europe. Definitely more young adult than middle grade!

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster

By Jonathan Auxier

I loved this middle grade story about a young orphan and her hard life as a chimney sweep in Victorian London.

The Benefits of Being an Octopus

By Ann Braden

WOW! I haven't read a book this powerful in quite some time! A full review coming this week.

The Dollar Kids

By Jennifer Richard Jacobson

I enjoy everything by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and this one is no different! Another good, and pretty powerful, middle grade story about how Lowen, the main character, deals with some serious guilt that he has after something terrible happens to someone he knows.